It's become something of a tradition at Carolina Herrera to take a completely unexpected theme — mushrooms, bunny rabbits, green sparrows — manipulate it a bit, and then print it charmingly on silk. Herrera's latest resort collection debuted the Lovers pattern, a wild smattering of multicolored shapes and figures inspired by an image of antique lace she spotted in Emily Reigate's An Illustrated Guide to Lace.

"You must find an element of fun in every piece," Herrera says. "Otherwise, the concept of resort is lost entirely." The Lovers turned up on a peplum skirt and cotton twill shirt, a blouse shown with a burgundy tweed suit, and an ankle-grazing sundress.

It's a fairly abstract pattern, but upon close inspection loosely knit romantic episodes reveal themselves: A red-headed woman accepts flowers from a suitor, a blonde embraces a beret-wearing paramour, a girl runs with her arms outstretched toward her one-and-only.